Welcome to the proverbial Bird Cage as Ambrose of Milan takes on William Byrd in the Battle of the Birds. Who will emerge as Big Bird? That's up to you as you choose between a 4th century bishop and 16th century composer.

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Ambrose of Milan

On the off chance you find yourself in a tense gathering to choose a bishop, and a child’s voice sounds out, offering your name as a prime choice, you might wish to run, and quickly. It was how Ambrose, at the time an unbaptized catechumen, found himself on a journey that would lead to him being baptized and ordained as bishop within a week.

Ambrose of Milan was born around 339. From a young age he was recognized as being an excellent speaker and became a successful attorney. In 370, he became governor of that portion of Milan and the surrounding region. It was four years later, when the Arian bishop of twenty years died, and the city was torn in strife as to the election of a new bishop. Ambrose, in his role as governor, came to the electing convention to appeal for peace – at which point a child’s voice first cried “Ambrose for bishop!” with the crowd quickly following [legend has it that in this moment a bird alighted on his head]. He tried to reject the call. Yet when word reached the emperor, rather than grant Ambrose a reprieve, he quipped that he was pleased to have chosen governors who were fit for episcopal office. Ambrose was baptized and ordained bishop within the week. He was only thirty-five years old.

Ambrose took on a tutor to guide him in Christian thought, studying the works of Origen and Basil among others. His considerable skill at poetry and oratory made him a prolific hymn writer, and a skillful author of practical discourses on Christian faith and practice. He became a mentor and influence on perhaps the most influential theologian of Western Christianity – Augustine of Hippo – and he himself baptized Augustine on Easter Eve of 387.

Perhaps Ambrose’s greatest mark of distinction was that he did not hesitate to stand fast in the face of secular authorities, including the emperors of both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. He warned the young emperor Gratian of the importance of upholding the catholic faith against the Arian heresy – even though Gratian’s own uncle was chief protector to the Arians. He told Valentinian that the emperor was in the church, and not above it. And when Theodosius became the undisputed ruler of both the eastern and western, Ambrose would rebuke and excommunicate him for his role in a massacre at Thessalonica that had killed thousands of innocents. Theodosius, realizing Ambrose’s sway and moral voice, did public penance and was restored to the community of the church.

Ambrose would survive Theodosius by two years and would die on Good Friday of 397 at the age of fifty-seven. Ambrose was buried in the crypt of the Basilica that now bears his name in Milan.

Collect for Ambrose of Milan
O God, who gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (LFF 2022)

— David Sibley

William Byrd

William Byrd is considered one of the most important, influential, and famous Renaissance Anglican church music composers. His standing ranks up there with Henry Purcell.

Byrd was born in 1539 or 1540 in London, where he grew up. Wealthy, educated, and raised with a passionate love for music, he was a student, assistant, and friend of Thomas Tallis, a well-known and important musician with whom he is often paired.

Byrd began composing music at an early age and may have been a chorister at the esteemed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. He achieved renown as an organist and chorus master at Lincoln Cathedral, about 150 miles north of London. This notable position and some later appointments brought him within the circle of the reigning Queen Elizabeth I.

Even though his religion had been outlawed by the time he was an adult, Byrd skirted under the religious climate of the day and remained a lifelong Roman Catholic. He composed church music for both the Anglican Church and his own church. Although a Roman Catholic, he was on good terms with Queen Elizabeth I, who was known to be an accomplished musician as was her father, King Henry VIII.

Byrd was a prolific writer of sacred music and published volumes of religious songs, psalms, masses, and madrigals for instruments and/or voices, sometimes collaborating with others. It is estimated that more than 600 of his compositions remain. Among his many works – both small and grandiose - for the Anglican Church are  “O Lord, Make thy Servant Elizabeth our Queen” and “How Long Shall Mine Enemies Sing Joyfully.”

His association with Tallis prompted a prestigious appointment by Queen Elizabeth I for the selecting, printing, publishing, and selling of music, both religious and secular.

Byrd died of heart failure in Essex 400 hundred years ago, on July 4, 1623, having survived the Elizabethan era as a Roman Catholic. He is buried in an unmarked grave at St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Stondon Massey, Essex, England.

Interestingly, Byrd’s works do not appear in the widely used Episcopal Church Hymnal 1982, although six compositions by his sometimes-writing partner Tallis are included. Byrd and Tallis, along with fellow English composer John Merbecke, were listed in Holy Women Holy Men for November 21, but they do not appear in Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022.

Collect for William Byrd
O God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven: Be ever present with your servants who seek through art and music to perfect the praises offered by your people on earth; and grant to them even now glimpses of your beauty, and make them worthy at length to behold it unveiled for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP)

— Neva Rae Fox